Petoskey's Wegmann maturing into a do-it-all point guard in year two
PETOSKEY — Just a quick glance at the Petoskey girls basketball team’s scorebook Thursday and it looks like Haidyn Wegmann didn’t exactly play a big role in their Big North Conference win.
But, the sophomore point guard actually came up huge once again.
It wasn’t her four points – though a 2 for 2 trip to the line with under 30 seconds remaining helped seal the eventual 36-34 win over Traverse City West – but having a hand in everything else was what added up.
It was her six steals, three assists, five rebounds and pair of deflected passes on the defensive end that led to two more turnovers by the Titans.
It was all that gritty work that doesn’t show up in just the scorebook alone.
“It does everything,” Wegmann said on adding all those other components to the court. “Being able to hype up your team and get everyone going, it really helps get the win.”
Though just a sophomore, there’s a lot on Wegmann’s shoulders as a true point guard.
She picked up some valuable minutes last season as a freshman playing full time on varsity, while learning behind her sister, Hope, and a veteran group.
“I’m a lot more comfortable,” she said. “I got a lot of good playing time last year. I’ve always played against (tough) people and I’m just excited to see how this team does.”
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On top of the pressure she put on the Titans on the defensive end Thursday, she also showed she was able to handle a whole lot with those two free throws.
The Titans had just erased a 12-point lead by the Northmen with under two minutes to play. Then, with the clock at 28.7 seconds, Wegmann swallowed her nerves and swooshed the pair at the line to seal it.
“I was so nervous, but I just got to the line and was like, ‘I’ve shot this 100 times,’” Wegmann added.
Petoskey improved to 8-3 overall with the win and 2-2 within the BNC, while grabbing their second win of the week.
PHS head coach Bryan Shaw knows moving forward that the end of games will have to be closed out better.
“We’ve got to get better,” Shaw said. “We’ve been up 12 and 14 in the fourth quarter the last two games and we’ve had to hold on. We’ve got to get better at that. We’ve got to work on it. I’m really proud of them though. It’s tough to play after a snow day, we didn’t have practice yesterday.”
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On top of Wegmann, whose lone basket came on a tough reverse layup under the hoop, Caitlyn Matelski was big again with a 15-point, 13-rebound night, which included three steals, then Quinn Matthews had nine points and was highlighted by Shaw.
“I thought Quinn stepped up big tonight too,” he said. “She’s a good player that had a great summer.”
Petoskey will next head to the Cadillac Showcase over the weekend where they’ll meet up with a 7-1 Ovid-Elsie team at 4 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 20. They’ll also welcome in Traverse City Central next Tuesday, Jan. 23.
Contact or send game stats/info to Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Wegmann helps Petoskey girls grab BNC win over TC West
